Messaging theme
Recovery is a journey. You are not alone.
Lighthouse-led guidance for recovery and renewal
John Forlenza-Bailey
Recovery is a journey. You are not alone.
The Road to Wellness Workbook anchors a hopeful recovery brand built on education, emotional support, inspiration, and step-by-step guidance for people ready to turn their lives around.
“Recovery is up to you. Mentors help. Journals help. You must exchange and surrender destructive behaviors for constructive ways of handling the day-to-day stressors or triggers of life.”
From the workbook's recovery philosophy
Core workbook
The Road to Wellness Workbook
A practical companion for abstinence, relapse prevention, family dynamics, self-assessment, and constructive daily change.
Explore the workbook
The Hugs Not Drugs Podcast
Podcast episodes, books, and support all feel like one healing path.
42+years of counseling expertise
46+years in personal recovery
Weeklypodcast episodes supporting recovery
Real-world experience, DBT skills, and 12-step principles working together toward lasting change.
About the Author
Compassionate, authoritative, and grounded in the daily work of recovery.
I’m John Forlenza-Bailey, a therapist specializing in substance abuse and recovery. I host The Hugs Not Drugs Podcast, where I combine real-world experience, DBT skills, and 12-step principles to help people create lasting change. I also write and speak on practical recovery tools that people can actually use in their daily lives.
Compassion with structure
Emotional support is paired with lessons, reflection, and repeatable tools for real-life sobriety and healing.
Recovery as daily practice
Mentorship, journaling, self-assessment, and healthier responses to stressors are treated as essential recovery habits.
Featured Books
A recovery library built around practice, story, and hope.
How the titles work together
The Road to Wellness Workbook is the practical foundation of the brand, while The Transformation of Dr.Ugs extends the same recovery message through an original allegorical story.
View purchase optionsThe Road to Wellness Workbook
Built around abstinence, relapse prevention, family dynamics, and self assessment, this workbook is the heart of the author brand. It offers education, emotional support, inspiration, and step-by-step lessons for people determined to move from active addiction toward healthier daily living.
Step-by-step recovery lessons
Tools for triggers and daily stress
Journal-friendly reflection structure
Encouragement for mentors and support systems
The Transformation of Dr.Ugs
The Transformation of Dr.Ugs is an original fairy tale that explains the progression of chemical dependency through discovery, insight, acceptance, and the right choices to live drug-free.
Author background
John Forlenza-Bailey brings forty years of clinical experience and forty-five years of personal abstinence from active addiction to this companion title.
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Podcast
The Hugs Not Drugs Podcast keeps the core message active and accessible.
The podcast presents inspirational stories, tools for personal health, and weekly episodes that reinforce the workbook's central idea: recovery requires courage, structure, and honest support. Rather than feeling like a separate brand, it works here as the spoken extension of John's author platform.
Recovery, purpose, and transformation presented as one clear extension of the book brand.
Visit the full podcast archiveRecent episode
Who the Hell is Horace Wells?
April 27, 2026
Horace Wells helped medical science with important humanitarian surgical protocols during his brief but important lifetime.
Recent episode
Don K. Unfiltered - What!
April 20, 2026
Don shares his incredible life story to first-time co-host John G. in a conversation about the trap of addiction and what it takes to become part of the solution instead of the problem.
Recent episode
John G. - Pt. 4
April 13, 2026
What does STOP mean for John G.? STOP is a vital tool for people recovering from PTSD, and repetition remains one of the most important teachers in healing.
Recent episode
Faith is Hope With a Track Record (John G. - Pt. 3)
April 6, 2026
Part 3 of John G.'s story highlights breakthroughs in recovery and the honest reminder that people are often only as sick as the secrets they continue to carry.
Recent episode
John G. - Pt. 2
March 30, 2026
Desperation, detoxifying, and dealing with denial in rehab are discussed with the kind of honesty recovery demands.
Testimonials & credibility
A credible message, a clear promise, and language that stays close to recovery reality.
This workbook is designed to provide education, emotional support, and inspiration to persons suffering from addiction. It offers step by step lessons to people striving to turn their lives around.
A brilliant and insightful yet simplified workbook. If you have made the choice to walk in recovery, then this workbook gives you a simplified yet brilliant plan for developing a lifestyle of recovery.
Recovery is up to you. Mentors help. Journals help. You must exchange and surrender destructive behaviors for constructive ways of handling the day-to-day stressors or triggers of life.